"The Sum of All Fears" being the fourth Jack Ryan film from the novels by Tom Clancy, gives us a third Jack Ryan.

Ben Affleck takes over for Alec Baldwin, who played Ryan in "The Hunt For Red October", and Harrison Ford, who played Ryan in "Patriot Games" and "Clear & Present Danger".

Just for informational purposes the books were written in the following order - "The Hunt For Red October", "Patriot Games", "The Cardinal of the Kremlin", "Clear & Present Danger", "The Sum of All Fears", "Debt of Honor", "Executive Orders", "The Bear and the Dragon" and "Red Rabbit". I do not know which of the books that have not been filmed will make it to the big screen, but rest assured that some if not all will at some point see the box office.

Here is the plot from the book "The Sum of All Fears"...

A new world order... on the brink of destruction... Peace may finally be at hand in the Middle East---as Jack Ryan lays the groundwork for a plan that could end centuries of conflict. But ruthless terrorists have a final, desperate card to play; with one terrible act, distrust mounts, forces collide, and the floundering US president seems unable to cope with the crisis. With the world on the verge of nuclear disaster, Ryan must frantically seek a solution---before the chiefs of state lose control of themselves and the world.

Now as you can surely read, Jack Ryan is playing a major role in the worlds issues and one can see Harrison Ford in that role, but Ben Affleck, No Way. Luckily the makers of the film changed the Jack Ryan timeline. This film takes us to a time before Red October. We see Ryan as a young up and comer in the CIA who is busy watching tape from all over the world to figure out which world leaders are doing things they shouldn't be doing.

We then see a nuclear bomb get into the wrong hands and have the next two hours of our movie going life stuck to the edge of our seat waiting to see what happens next.

Phil Alden Robinson who previously directed "Field of Dreams" and "Sneakers" does a great job in building tension and showing us what goes on inside the President's inner circle during a crisis like a terrorist bombing.

The terrorists who have used this bomb also are able to trick the US and USSR into believing that the other is ready to start World War 3 and start dropping bombs on each other.

This is where our hero Jack Ryan must find a way to figure out who the real bad guys are and then make sure that the US and USSR are informed. He teams up with fellow CIA member John Clark who is a darker side of Ryan, where Ryan doesn't want to fire a gun and instead negotiate, Clark wants to negotiate with weapons. Liev Schreiber plays Clark and comes off perfectly, Willem Dafoe played Clark in "Clear & Present Danger".

Morgan Freeman is great as always as the Director of the CIA and James Cromwell who plays the President also gives a fine performance, but Ben Affleck is the star and as with most stars is out performed by his supporting cast. He just doesn't come off as a man of action. His performance is stale.

If not for the tension filled direction and nail biting plot this film would not have been very good.

As a post 9/11 film, it gives us a new understanding to just how vulnerable we were and are to attacks by lunatics.

"The Sum of All Fears" comes 4th in my ranking of the Jack Ryan series, with "The Hunt for Red October" being the best. And Ben Affleck is the least of the 3 Jack Ryan's with Harrison Ford being tops.